Tim climbed back into the Pod, wondering about this new partner. My head is spinning because this latest twist is still a difficult thing to fully understand, but it is somewhat reassuring.
“Okay, my Duo friend, let’s get this Pod thing moving. Where’s Clank?”
“He’s going to the TT Fighter, you’ve got maybe five minutes.”
I don’t know about this mental control aspect. The Sooaunts used it okay, but I don’t think I’m anywhere close to them, mentally.
“To fly this craft, it is going to take your total, absolute concentration,” Duo added.
“Great! Now I’m worried I won’t be able to control my thoughts at the right time.”
“You have definitely decided to fly the Pod then?”
“Yes, you know I have to. Clank is leaving, and he’s up to no good. I’m the only one that can do something. The Pod should scare the shit out of him.”
“He does seem to think he is invincible. He is definitely under the illusion his fighter is far superior to anything he will encounter. The Pod can definitely curtail his activities and certainly surprise him.”
“That’s why I have to go. I made a deal with Ed, and I can’t allow Clank to mess that up.”
“I see your dilemma, but why are you so concerned about your performance?” Duo asked.
“I’m nervous. I don’t have any idea what to think about. I mean, how the hell do you just think about getting a machine to do something?”
“How do you get your body to do something?”
“That’s a little different,” Tim laughed.
“It is the same principle, you will figure it out.”
“How can I be sure though?”
“You have no choice, hence you will perform,” the child-computer lectured.
“Great, I’m discussing a real life threatening problem with the most intelligent thing in existence, and it’s spouting simple psychology as a solution,” Tim complained.
“The problem is simple psychology, why should we complicate the issue? Incidentally, that issue is about to become reality. Clank is now in the launch area, getting ready to depart. Are you still planning to thwart his intentions?”
“Of course, I have to. You know that so stop asking!” Tim snapped.
“Then let us get you and the Pod pointed in the right direction, and get the show on the road.”
“Taking on where Mr. V left off, huh?”
“Yes, we like the personality thing too. It allows so many more variations in communication, but we must hurry, the TT Fighter is being moved into launch position.”
*
This thing is so compact, it’s hard to believe it can really do the things Et told me about. This is Timtown though, and as usual, the impossible is reality. Tim situated himself into the revamped seat and laid back. The machine suddenly started to hum and brighten inside at the same time.
“Okay, we are located in another smaller port to the left of the main one.” Duo instructed.
The Pod lifted slightly and started to turn, at the same time a sliver of light appeared to the left side. The sliver expanded up as the Pod turned toward it.
“You are now in charge. It is up to you to fly the Pod,” Duo announced, as the hatch over Tim popped down and clicked.
Tim felt like he had to control the craft with some kind of physical connection, but Duo had now left him with nothing but the systems the Pod was originally designed with.
“What do I do now?” Tim asked, “But he got no response.”
“Come on, answer me dammit!”
There was still nothing.
Damn, I need that comm, I’m getting n—
He was interrupted by a soft hiss.
“Is somebody there?” Tim asked frustrated.
“Duo to Tim, Duo to Tim,” the comm said. Tim could detect a humorous tone.
“I don’t need any goof-offs on this trip,” Tim countered.
“The TT Fighter with Clank aboard is starting up its engines,” Duo announced more serious.
The force field had dissolved in front of Tim as he sat in the Pod, waiting to move it out into the open. He was looking out at scrubs and rocks.
It looked like the same small squirrel was looking his way with a puzzled look on its tinny face. It was standing straight up on its hind legs, chewing on something, looking straight at the mysterious craft.
“Okay, this is it!” Tim announced loudly and thought. Move forward. The Pod sank down a foot or so, the nose dipping a little farther than the rest of the craft. He did notice an increase in the soft hum that emanated from the machinery around him. He tried again to get it to move forward, but this time it did nothing. He was getting frustrated already. He tried and tried to channel his thoughts into the control system, but it wasn’t working. The Pod was only moving slightly, but nowhere he wanted it to go.
“Move damnit!” Tim shouted. This is really annoying because Clank is getting away.
“The TT Fighter is leaving The Facility,” Duo said to compound his frustration.
Tim thought about how he had left in the fighter, visualizing, flashing out into the daylight. The Pod jumped forward from inside the small rock tunnel and darted into the early morning sunlight, causing the squirrel to run like hell. Tim was so excited about getting the thing out; he forgot to concentrate about what to do next, so the small craft came to an abrupt stop a couple of hundred feet in the air.
Tim thought about the TT Fighter, that by now must be climbing high into the sky, and the Pod shot almost straight up at an incredible speed. There was no sensation of movement in his body, but it was exhilarating anyway. As he rose far above the mountains, Tim looked out to the North were he figured the fighter would be located and spotted the long line of storms marking the fault line. He was trying to focus his eyes to locate the fighter when he realized the Pod was starting a long arc toward the storms. He was getting some kind of idea of how to get the craft to do what he wanted.
“You have to make a request to start the sensors,” Duo announced.
“Start the sensors!” Tim shouted, but nothing happened.
I wish to hell, I knew where I was?
Instantly, the immediate area around Tim’s head jumped into three dimensional pictures. Tim looked around fascinated. There were many symbols, but the symbols didn’t make any sense.
“All right, I got something, but I don’t understand any of it.”
“We can explain as we go,” Duo instructed.
“Okay guys, let’s get together and find Clank. I’ve got the damn thing to do a little, but I’m not sure how I’m really doing it,” Tim answered.
“Patience Mr. Randell, the machine has to learn from you also.”
“Is that for real?”
“Yes, the system works with your thoughts, and it will take it sometime for it to figure out what your thoughts mean.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before? I wouldn’t have been so uptight?”
“I did once, vaguely, but it is appropriate to re-inform you now as it is happening. That is the best way to learn.”
“I guess that makes sense. Now, how the hell do I find the TT Fighter?”
“Think about it!”
“And the Pod will go there?” Tim asked.
“No, it will identify it and give you the location, and then you will have to direct the Pod to that location.”
“But, I don’t understand the stuff I’m seeing here,” Tim whined.
“Just think about the fighter and when the information comes up, I will explain it to you.”
“What am I supposed to think about?”
“The TT Fighter, what it looks like, how it is built, how it moves when it flies, anything. Put the image of what it is in your mind, and we will go from there.”
The first image about the fighter that came to mind was when he was out running the missiles. Watching the rear hologram as the first missile closed in. That was something that would always be clear in his mind.
“There is a machine like the one you’re thinking about seven hundred miles away. See the red box way up at the top?”
“Clank can’t be that far away all ready.” Tim was confused.
“The object you described is attached to another machine; see the two yellow dots together there? The machine you described is the smaller of the two.”
“Attached? That doesn’t seem right. This isn’t working, and Clank is getting farther and farther away.
“Yes, that doesn’t seem right,” Duo agreed. “What were you thinking about? How did you mentally describe the TT Fighter?
“I was thinking about when the missile—Oh shit, I was thinking about the missile, dammit. Sorry!”
Tim immediately thought about the fighter again, and this time visualized it in the hologram the first time Arty showed it to him.
“The Pod’s recognition system says there is something resembling your description to the Northwest. See that bright yellow symbol to the right and slightly above the blue hexagon there. Past the bunch of small bird like objects to the right and slightly up. See them? That is the location of the object you described mentally.”
Tim focused on the object, and an image of the TT Fighter developed from the dot. “Yeah, yeah, hey this is great, this system is really neat. What are the bird like things?”
“Probably birds,” Duo said in a monotone expression.
“Oh, you enjoyed that didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes we did.”
“Where am I located, I mean in all this here?” Tim asked.
“Right where you are sitting, where else? You are the middle of everything, just like in the TT Fighter,” the child-computer asked in a sarcastic tone.
“I can appreciate that smart ass. Now, how can I be sure about that object because I need to find Clank in a hurry?”
“Ask with a thought, just like you would if you were talking to someone,” Duo answered.
“It’s not like just talking; I can’t formulate the question like I would if I was talking. Too many different things go through my head.”
“If you ask the question verbally, the thought would also go through your head, correct?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I mean I hope so,” Tim said.
“Well, let’s try it that way. Ask your question while thinking about it, and see what happens.”
“Ahm, let’s see I need to. Who am I asking?”
“The Pod, ah the Pod’s computer. No, I think I see your problem,” Duo admitted.
“I sure wish you could run this thing for me, it would be so much easier.” Because I’m worried about Clank getting away.”
Another symbol appeared far below the first one he suspected was Clank, and Clank was heading for the new one at high speed.
Shit, I wonder what he’s after? Tim thought, while asking out loud.
“It is an airplane,” Duo said.
I wonder what kind of plane it is?
A hologram appeared between his legs. It was another F-16.
Oh shit, the poor bastard, I wonder how far it is between him and the TT Fighter? A set of figures appeared, and as he watched them, they changed.
“Duo, what do they say?”
“Nineteen miles, eighteen miles, seventeen miles, closing fast,” Duo responded.
“Damn, how far away are we?”
“Don’t ask me, ask your Pod,” Duo chastised.
“Pod, how f—damn!” Tim looked intently at the symbol that represented Clank, and thought. How far is it?
More figures appeared.
“One hundred and seventy point six one six, miles!” Duo said instantly.
“Oh shit!” Tim said out loud. I need to get there before Clank shoots this plane down, but it is impossible.
“One Hundred and thirty miles,” Duo said.
Tim’s anxiety was tremendous; That poor pilot in that F-16. How far is Clank from the plane now?
“Seven miles,” replied Duo.
I need to get his bucket of bolts going. What the hell can I do? Tim lamented, his attention rooted on Clank, and the F-16.
“Seventy-one miles,” Duo said.
“What are you talking about?” Tim said, not really thinking because he was still worrying about the pilot.
“It is thirty-two miles to the F-16,” said Duo.
I’‘ll be damned, the Pod’s responded to my concern for the pilot, and has covered the distance of over a hundred miles, in seconds. I didn’t realized it because I didn’t felt a thing, and my eyes were on the hologram. He looked outside the Pod, and was astonished to see the line of storms off to his left, zipping by, and they were at least a hundred miles away. Duo did tell me, I would feel nothing when the Pod maneuvered because the engine of the Pod powers every molecule of the machine, also every molecule inside, and that would be me.
“Seven!” Duo announced.
That startled Tim and he looked out of the Pod, quickly. There was the F-16 right in front of him and he was rushing at it at incredible speed. He was moving so fast he had no time to change course. He instinctively shut his eyes and ducked his head to protect himself from the impact.
Nothing happened, but Tim was sure he had been on a collision course. Wait a minute, a machine as advanced as the Pod would be protected by a force field. Damn, I know the F-16 won’t have the same thing.
“Oh shit, great, I hit him! I had to!” Tim exclaimed.
“No, but you’ve scared the hell out of him,” Duo advised. “Maybe you shouldn’t have come so close.”
“No shit? Thank goodness, where is he?” Tim asked.
“Right there, right next to you,” Duo replied.
“Huh?” Tim looked around to the left, and there was the F-16 twenty feet from the Pod. He could see the pilot in the bubble canopy clearly. Although the pilot’s face was covered by the visor and oxygen mask, Tim could tell by his actions he was upset and was slinging the fighter all over the sky, but the Pod was staying glued to the plane.
“Oh wow, what happened? I should have gone way past him at that speed?” Tim commented.
“You commanded the Pod to go to the fighter, it did that.”
“But what’s going on now?”
“The last command you gave was to go to the fighter. The Pod will stay with it until you say differently. Excuse me, think differently.”
“Man, I thought I hit him!” Tim exclaimed.
“Not possible, the Pod has an anti-impact program.”
Crazy shit is happening here, Tim thought as tried to get a little more space between the Pod and the F-16.
Tim tried to command the Pod to move farther away by thinking in numbers of feet, but nothing happened. He explained this to Duo, who informed him that feet meant nothing to the Pod.
Then Tim looked at the F-16 and visualized it getting smaller, pushing it away with his eyes, and it worked.
“All right, that did it!” Tim exclaimed excitedly.
“You certainly appear to be getting the hang of it,” Duo congratulated him.
“Where’s—” No dummy, think about the TT Fighter.
A symbol appeared instantly in the rear hologram. Oh, oh it’s Clank and he’s directly behind me, following my every move which are still matching the F-16. The pilot has calmed down and is flying along in a fairly straight line. Duo keep me informed on the distances.
Duo responded immediately. “You are flying level at 17,786 feet, headed 43 degrees at 970 knots, 120 meters abreast of the F-16. Clank is following, 1020 meters to the rear.
I wonder what Clank’s thinking about the Pod. It should be easy to eavesdrop on him if he’s in contact with Whuc Seaacki.
Duo broke in. “I would suggest you pilot the Pod away from your present position. Clank is contemplating firing an extremely high energy beam at you.”
“He can’t hurt this thing!” Tim stated. “Can he?”
“Clank has installed an extremely powerful energy generator, and I am not positive, but I assume it may d
isrupt the Pod’s machinery, temporarily,” Duo returned. “Clank has started that generator.”
“Whooo, time to get the hell out of here!” Tim announced as he put his mind to getting the Pod to respond. He tried to think about going faster, but just as before nothing happened. He still didn’t really know how to make the connection with the machine. He then imagined himself starting to accelerate, imagining the clouds moving by him faster. It took a second or so, but finally the Pod began to accelerate and climb. Tim cleared his head of all thoughts and concentrated hard. He imagined himself going faster and faster and the Pod’s speed began to climb gradually.
“The Clank is preparing to fire, you are targeted,” Duo announced.
“Shit!” Tim exclaimed as he imagined the Pod making a sharp turn. The Pod responded, but the turn wasn’t as sharp as he wanted. He realized he needed to make the Pod respond quicker and tried again. The machine began to accelerate, but there was a bright flash inside the craft, accompanied by a loud bang. Tim was temporarily blinded, and immediately there was a strong burning smell.
“He got me!” Tim yelled. “What do I do?”
All he could hear was a loud static noise, and all the symbols around him had disappeared. He looked up to see outside the craft, but the once transparent canopy was now clouded milky white. He was completely disoriented.
Stay straight and level baby.
He continued to call for Duo, but there was still nothing but static. He had no feeling of any motion, but that was the way the Pod worked.
Tim was trying desperately to see outside the Pod, but the material was still clouded. A shadow did pass to the side of the Pod, but he couldn’t tell what it was, or how far away it was. It was irrelevant because he had no idea which direction he was traveling. His insistent calls to Duo where still going unanswered. All that was coming through was the persistent static.
Straight and level, he thought again as he sat there completely confused.
What the hell do I do now? He thought and thought, and the only conclusion he came up with, was, How come I’m not in a complete state of panic? I should be, considering I’m trapped in this strange little machine that is certainly damaged, maybe severely, and almost twenty-thousand feet above the hard ground, way down there. At this very moment, I could be close to impact. Please be flying level.
A beeping noise started suddenly. If I was in anything other than this go-cart from the future, I’d be dead certain this was an alarm.
Tim clenched his fists, and tried to squeeze his mind into getting linking up with the Pod. An image jumped into his head, but before he could recognize anything it was gone. For just a second he was frustrated, then as quickly, he tried to establish the link again. I have to get control of the situation.